tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70092369249705896962024-03-27T02:38:05.730-04:00Monster In Your VeinsCharles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.comBlogger120125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-90676740859056866722010-10-31T15:00:00.000-04:002010-10-31T15:00:04.079-04:00Soundtrack to my Halloween (finale): "Around the World" by Daft PunkFrom one of my all-time, top 10 favorite albums, 1997's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Homework/dp/B000SNW0HA?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><i>Homework</i></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000SNW0HA" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />. <br />
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Happy Halloween and have a good time out there! <br />
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<center><iframe frameborder="0" height="265" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/9308865" width="400"></iframe><a href="http://vimeo.com/9308865">Daft Punk - Around the World</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/youwantelvis">you_want_elvis</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</center>Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-15120171556383709712010-10-30T15:00:00.000-04:002010-10-30T15:00:02.939-04:00Soundtrack to my Halloween: "The Man Comes Around" by Johnny CashPretty dire. A true American icon (warts and all). <br />
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You know, I refuse to watch <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Walk-Line-Blu-ray-Joaquin-Phoenix/dp/B002WN8IQQ?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><i>Walk the Line</i></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002WN8IQQ" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> or for that matter any music biopic from this point forward? Just tired of that narrative trajectory. <br />
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<center><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/k9IfHDi-2EA?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/k9IfHDi-2EA?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></center>Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-44644816898819156652010-10-29T15:00:00.000-04:002010-10-29T15:00:04.076-04:00Soundtrack to my Halloween: "Speed of Blood" by GallhammerFrom their album, <i>The Dawn of Gallhammer</i>, and also polished and and reproduced on their follow-up, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ill-Innocence-Gallhammer/dp/B0039OS3JO?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><i>Ill Innocence</i></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0039OS3JO" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />. <br />
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<center><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/r9d8pYMcNd8?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/r9d8pYMcNd8?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></center>Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-80016286364627801652010-10-28T15:00:00.000-04:002010-10-28T15:00:02.621-04:00Soundtrack to my Halloween: "Scared Away" by UgressFrom the Norwegian composer/DJ. How could I NOT like a piece of music taking its cue from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Evil-Dead-Blu-ray-Bruce-Campbell/dp/B003IY48PS?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><i>Evil Dead</i></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003IY48PS" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> (1980)? <br />
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Oh, and this is an awful, awful video. <br />
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<center><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/A5wwq2dLHxc?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/A5wwq2dLHxc?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></center>Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-35375077885744891532010-10-27T15:00:00.001-04:002010-10-27T15:00:01.352-04:00Soundtrack to Halloween: "Voci dal Nulla I" by Fabio FrizziFrom Lucio Fulci's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Catriona-MacColl/dp/6305972052?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"><i>The Beyond</i></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=6305972052" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> (1980). Another impossible-to-find soundtrack. <br />
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<center><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H1pPT-6gFQo?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H1pPT-6gFQo?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></center>Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-56563048085317891642010-10-26T15:00:00.000-04:002010-10-26T15:00:03.293-04:00Soundtrack to my Halloween: "Dig Up Her Bones" by The MisfitsFrom their <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/American-Psycho/dp/B000VZX93E?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">American Psycho</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000VZX93E" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> album. Always thought this song was oddly... melodic? <br />
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<center><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lgSLz5FeXUg?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lgSLz5FeXUg?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></center>Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-40262204551487237322010-10-26T00:13:00.000-04:002010-10-26T00:13:22.039-04:00Soundtrack to my Halloween: "Burn the Flames" by Roky EricksonFrom the most-excellent, and out-of-print/hard-to-find <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Return-Living-Two-Disc-Blu-ray-Packaging/dp/B003WTO5S4?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Return of the Living Dead</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003WTO5S4" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i> (1985) soundtrack. <br />
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<center><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7u-u6gKJv8s?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7u-u6gKJv8s?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></center>Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-31844321284211931052010-10-21T20:03:00.001-04:002010-10-22T19:16:18.095-04:00Music I Can't Live Without: Squarepusher's Hard Normal Daddy (1997)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TMDOGLEtOEI/AAAAAAAAAVs/6OqWk2sdBn0/s1600/Hard+Normal+Daddy+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TMDOGLEtOEI/AAAAAAAAAVs/6OqWk2sdBn0/s1600/Hard+Normal+Daddy+Cover.jpg" /></a></div><br />
A little personal history here: <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Normal-Daddy/dp/B001E40DP8?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Hard Normal Daddy</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001E40DP8" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> (1997) is the second album I bought by the multi-talented Tom Jenkinson a.k.a. Squarepusher, after being introduced to/hooked by his work via Ken Ishii's <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/X-Mix-Forward-Rewind-Ken-Ishii/dp/B0000013ES?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">X-mix: Fast Forward and Rewind</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0000013ES" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> (1998). In particular, it was "Squarepusher's Theme" (which is actually on the <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/feed-me-weird-things/dp/B000007423?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Feed Me Weird Things</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000007423" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i> album.*<br />
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Anyway, I was actually a little put out when I bought this disc way back when--there was a gulf between the high energy jazz acrobatics of "Squarepusher's Theme" and the more laid-back vibe on display here. But laid-back isn't code for lazy: the album is incredibly sophisticated, with Jenkinson employing a variety of instrumental arrangements to realize his eclectic, acid-jazz-meets-drum-and-bass vision.<br />
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The album didn't have me truly in its grasp until the second track, "Beep Street," an arrangement of digital and analog arrangements that feels like Jenkinson's output in miniature: lively instrumental arrangements based on heavily-layered compositions, relying on a variety of instrumentation (and not just a drum track and a sick sample).<br />
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<center><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8yA8MRphI8w?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8yA8MRphI8w?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></center> <br />
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If you're familiar with their output it should come as no surprise that I got into Squarepusher around the same time as I started digging into Aphex Twin (Richard D. James). I always imagined that the latter was something of a lunatic prankster, laying down sick soundscapes and occasionally wicked moods with the occasional concession to typical forms of coherence.* Squarepusher, meanwhile, always felt like a genius in his lab, trying to rebuild beats using superscience. He might have a playful streak, but he's dead serious about it.<br />
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<i>Hard Normal Daddy</i> is one of those albums one can revisit every couple of years just to hear how the music changes the more sophisticated one becomes as a music listener. I envy a person who discovers it for the first time with an open mind. <br />
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*The hell? This album is out of print? I still have the original CD at home. The lack of a digital release is troubling as well. <br />
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**His most accessible works, "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Come-Daddy-Pappy-Mix-Version/dp/B00123NGMI?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Come to Daddy</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00123NGMI" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />" and "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Windowlicker-Chosen-fans-Warp20-net/dp/B002OVEJQY?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Windowlicker</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002OVEJQY" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />" are off-putting in their own ways, subverting and twisting industrial and hip hop sounds respectively.Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-14772241104943777362010-09-15T22:46:00.000-04:002010-09-15T22:46:13.121-04:00Ugly Blu MessNo, not the films--some are actually quite brilliant. I'm talking about the hideous covers chosen for the Blu Ray releases.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGB15PFskI/AAAAAAAAAUs/5O7QlQ3eS0I/s1600/nightofthecreepscover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGB15PFskI/AAAAAAAAAUs/5O7QlQ3eS0I/s320/nightofthecreepscover.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGC2MrMckI/AAAAAAAAAVU/I0na9bP-fO4/s1600/the_return_of_the_living_dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGC2MrMckI/AAAAAAAAAVU/I0na9bP-fO4/s320/the_return_of_the_living_dead.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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I'm often curious about the instinct or inclination that goes into making these choices. Is it as simple as the original art being unavailable for some reason? Are they hoping to differentiate it from the packaging from older formats? Maybe they're trying to capitalize on some trend or other (Twilight-fever seems to have inspired the Near Dark cover).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGCit4DZgI/AAAAAAAAAVE/ApbOsNPUFNE/s1600/near+dark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGCit4DZgI/AAAAAAAAAVE/ApbOsNPUFNE/s320/near+dark.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGCRxA7u5I/AAAAAAAAAU0/BFmRCpYOCy0/s1600/InvasionoftheBodySnatchersBD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGCRxA7u5I/AAAAAAAAAU0/BFmRCpYOCy0/s320/InvasionoftheBodySnatchersBD.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Besides being ugly, many of these covers often offer something the movie frankly isn't selling. They promise something either cheap, silly, or compromised. They say, "hey, this movie's not so great but it's cheap--give it a try!" <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGCZHCaGAI/AAAAAAAAAU8/SGaf8OgrjjE/s1600/Minority-Report-Blu-ray.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGCZHCaGAI/AAAAAAAAAU8/SGaf8OgrjjE/s320/Minority-Report-Blu-ray.jpg" /></a></div>Compare it to the original art used for either the DVD release or the theatrical posters and you'll find some prime art going unused. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGCvGgyJtI/AAAAAAAAAVM/wIJWIGTAS8k/s1600/return_of_the_living_dead_Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGCvGgyJtI/AAAAAAAAAVM/wIJWIGTAS8k/s400/return_of_the_living_dead_Poster.jpg" width="261" /></a></div><br />
Look at that Return of the Living Dead (1985) poster - say what you will but it's a distinctive image. Not like the slime green mess used for the Blu Ray (which is actually a pretty stacked, excellent disc, by the way). Looking at my copy of the disc I wish Fox had shipped the movie with a reversible cover. <br />
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Ditto, the Night of the Creeps poster, which I think was the art used for the video advertisements for the movie back in the day. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGDP9x-UTI/AAAAAAAAAVc/BYB_ynTdAcs/s1600/night+of+the+creeps+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGDP9x-UTI/AAAAAAAAAVc/BYB_ynTdAcs/s320/night+of+the+creeps+poster.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Finally, I find the Near Dark image to be the worst offender, pandering as it does to the Twilight audience. Not necessarily because I have anything against the franchise, but because it's pushing a soft, feminine vibe that's really only a small part of the movie. It's actually a pretty gory outlaw vampire movie. I'd have to imagine the audience that picks it up based on the art would feel like a bait and switch had been pulled on them. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGE1NA2E1I/AAAAAAAAAVk/myES9O6LXhI/s1600/near+dark+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TJGE1NA2E1I/AAAAAAAAAVk/myES9O6LXhI/s320/near+dark+poster.jpg" /></a></div>Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-58138611936139819672010-09-11T22:04:00.000-04:002010-09-11T22:04:03.190-04:00"Resident Evil: Afterlife"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TIwwAqipHmI/AAAAAAAAAUk/5SxhXotbMcI/s1600/resident-evil-afterlife-poster-480x711.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TIwwAqipHmI/AAAAAAAAAUk/5SxhXotbMcI/s320/resident-evil-afterlife-poster-480x711.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Catch it before it wanders off the front page, my review of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Resident-Evil-Afterlife-Tomandandy/dp/B003YM32VK?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Resident Evil: Afterlife</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003YM32VK" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> is live over at <a href="http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/09/resident-evil-afterlife-review.php">Twitch</a>. It's about what you would expect given the limited narrative aspirations of the series, as Glenn Kenny <a href="http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/some_came_running/2010/09/resident-evil-afterlife.html">so astutely observes</a>, they're "the most subtext-free of any zombie movies."<br />
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It's perhaps this that keeps me coming back to the first and third movies: they're uniquely a collection of moments, sometimes interlinked, other times not, that feel like a free-flow blast of whiz-pow scenes that verge of being describes as non sequiturs. More than anything else I feel attracted to the empty calories the one might be into Mallomars or White Castle burgers. In moderation, it's not too bad for you and for a moment they provide a respite from complexity. Resident Evil as a film franchise isn't over-burdened by any particularly weighty thoughts, save to maintain fidelity to the long-running game series and present a few over-the-top action set pieces that, for my tastes, peaked at the laser grid in the first entry. <br />
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The third film in the series, <i>Extinction</i> admirably recreates this sequence as one of a series of traps for one of the infinite Alices revealed at during the opening of that film. It's a shame <i>Afterlife</i> does away with this plot point early on in its running time (<i>the Resident Evil films: where the important plot bits bookend the actual meat and potatoes of the movie</i>). <br />
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I just made the connection that this being the 4th movie in the franchise it's directly cribbing from the 4th movie in the game series (at least 4th chronologically with regards to the canon), which also took a wild left turn away from the conventions of the previous entries in the franchise. The games scaled back their reliance on the Umbrella Corporation as the prime villains, changed the setting, the flow of the action, and even did away with zombies as the primary enemies (the Ganados of 4 and 5 are mind-controlled humans).Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-24834212783369556772010-09-06T17:38:00.000-04:002010-09-06T17:38:43.798-04:00Ruining Sex With Bad Biology (2008)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TIVeRb3cubI/AAAAAAAAAUI/7tUj7Mbh0sc/s1600/033108_bad_biology.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TIVeRb3cubI/AAAAAAAAAUI/7tUj7Mbh0sc/s320/033108_bad_biology.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Despite his relatively <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0376963/">brief filmography</a>, writer/director/editor Frank Henenlotter has been at this a while. <i>This</i> being the writing, directing, and editing of a certain type of horror film that lives and dies on sexual panic. Sex is terrifying and messy, potential partners are just as likely to kill as love you, and the body will crave what it craves (damn the consequences). Think Cronenberg's body horror without the art, or in simpler terms the Debbie Harry/James Woods sex scene in <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Videodrome-Criterion-Collection-James-Woods/dp/B0002DB50E?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Videodrome</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0002DB50E" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i> over and over and over again. And the Debbie Harry role is filled by a stripper.<br />
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Case in point, 2008's <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Biology-Blu-ray-DVD-Combo/dp/B003VL3UQG?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Bad Biology</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003VL3UQG" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i>. It a bad movie but "bad" in the way in which Henenlotter excels. Starring newcomers Charlee Danielson and Anthony Sneed, <i>BB</i> is mostly about a woman's search for the perfect man, where the definition of "perfect" involves satisfying her mutant, hyper-orgasmic reproductive system, which, by the way, can also fully produce a deformed baby within two hours of coitus. Jennifer (Danielson) is a photographer and self-professed nymphomaniac who beds and occasionally murders her partners during the act of sex, snapping shots of her victims for her private portfolio. I hope you like the sound of her voice, because Danielson provides running narration throughout the film, her delivery reminiscent of some of the most awkward spoken word poetry of the mid-90's, all swagger and emotional content that has a tendency to grate. <br />
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Anthony Sneed's Glenn Beck (really), aka Batz is the x factor Danielson is unaware she's always been seeking. Cursed with a pulsing, sentient, 4-foot-long penis, Batz spends his solitary life satisfying the drug addictions of his demanding member and constructing devices to give it release, all while holed up in his house that he optimistically hopes to turn into a club. Most of the movie's brisk 85 minute running time involves the two characters slowly entering one another's orbit until the climax sees he and she (him, "little him," and her) crash into one another in the final minutes.<br />
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There's a lot of sex and skin on display in the movie, but none of it is particularly titillating (at least for this viewer). Danielson, who comes to the role from a career of adoring photo shoots with rappers like 50 Cent and athletes in publications like Vibe isn't afraid to show a LOT of skin in the many simulated sex scenes. I kept thinking of Julianne Moore's Amber Waves, and how she described preparing for the role by imagining herself as an actress not in command of or in touch with her body. Awkward is maybe the kindest word for Danielson's performance with "disconnected" being the most apt. For a character obsessed with having sex, her Jennifer doesn't seem to know how to behave or move during the actual act. There is a LOT of flailing in this movie.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TIVegst18uI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/BdqPzn35BBw/s1600/bad-biology-1_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TIVegst18uI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/BdqPzn35BBw/s320/bad-biology-1_1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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But bad acting is par for the course with Henenlotter movies, and the earnestness of the performances - well, they don't make up for the quality but they at least dull the blow. More uneven are some of the film's prosthetic/creature effects which aren't on-par with the wonderfully gross creations of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Basket-Case-20th-Anniversary-Special/dp/B00005KH30?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Basket Case</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00005KH30" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> but again, their gags are emphatic.<br />
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The production is billed as the director's comeback feature - there's a 14-year gap between this and his last production - an almost Malick-like period in the wilderness. Weirdly, in spite of being unable to enjoy this movie I'd like for him to get behind the camera again to give us another whacked-out vision. Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-34351767393178159042010-09-01T11:45:00.000-04:002010-09-01T11:45:02.068-04:00The Losers, Cop Out, and the Value of Good B-Movie...that's not to say either of these deservedly unsuccessful recent Warner releases fit in that category so close to my heart: the "good B-movie." With the release of <i>Machete</i> this week and the continued success of The Expendables, it felt like as good a time as any to think about what makes a good B-movie and what makes something like <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Losers-Blu-ray-Jeffrey-Dean-Morgan/dp/B003OCWF6I?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Losers</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003OCWF6I" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> or <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cop-Out-Bruce-Willis/dp/B002ZG970G?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Cop Out</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002ZG970G" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> happen to the viewer. The failure of the latter examples stems from, I'm afraid a lack of commitment somewhere down the line to being a B-movie.<br />
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In the case of the Losers, it seemed that at some point up the pipe someone decided that a story about a bunch of hardened soldiers out for revenge against the conspirators that ruined their lives needed to be a PG-13 affair. Not so much. If anything, <i>The Losers</i> could have stood to have been a bit more ruthless, pulpy, and downright nasty. Instead, what came to the screen felt scrubbed and sanitized. Not to get too far into comparing source material and adaptation but it felt like all the juice (for lack of a better term) had been drained in the translation. Gone was the nervy paranoia of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Losers-Book-One-Vols/dp/1401227333?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">the Vertigo serie</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1401227333" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />s by Andy Diggle and Jock as well as the harder edge of the characters. Gone was the nearly silent femme fatale Aisha, only to be replaced by the chatty film counterpart.<br />
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I have no objection to talk - it's why I thought I'd give the pretty-much hated Cop Out a chance. I hoped that Smith, who gives good talk in his movies, would deliver the goods in a buddy cop comedy that was a nice homage to the <i>Lethal Weapons</i> of yesteryear. Smith, and really everyone involved, feels under committed here. There's not a single laugh to be had and the action is - well, it'd be kind to call it lackluster. It all seems to be built on familiarity and perhaps the assumption that seeing Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan interacting will be enough to generate comedy cold. Or something, I don't really know what anyone was thinking with this mess. It's pretty terrible and on second thought I'm not sure what I was thinking checking this one out. Maybe it was the choice of a KRS-One cut for the trailer.<br />
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Respect to KRS-One. <br />
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With that in mind I thought I'd share some virtues I'd love B-movies to adhere to: <br />
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<b>Don't be ashamed of being shameless. Big emotions, lots of violence, and sex should be judiciously applied, where appropriate. And if aren't ashamed of being shameless...</b><br />
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When looking at some of Cronenberg's early work, or Cameron's*, or even all the way back to Val Lewton, you'll find that none of them were afraid to go big with the elements of their stories. <b> </b><br />
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<b>Make sure all that emotion, sex, and violence counts. </b><br />
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The best second-tier entertainments are always about the payoff. Cronenberg, Cameron, and Lewton's movies typically have a hell of a payoff. <br />
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<b>Don't be afraid to screw around with your genre. </b><br />
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I LOVE twists and turns in genre flicks and outright mashups precisely because they bring something unexpected to the table. <b><br />
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<b>Actually know your genre. REALLY know it.</b> <br />
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It's something I'm trying to do with my own writing: increase the breadth and depth of my film knowledge so that when I have something to say about genre it's coming from an informed place. <br />
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*I'd argue that Cameron remains a b-movie director who just happens to excel getting the budgets for his visions. For all the pomp and seriousness of films like Avatar and Titanic they still feel likeCharles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-23640513538605606412010-08-20T15:00:00.000-04:002010-08-20T15:00:10.405-04:00Playing on Repeat: Major Lazer & La Roux, Lazerproof<center></center><center></center><center><object height="285" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kVolhzvymV4?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kVolhzvymV4?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="285"></embed></object></center><br />
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I've really been digging this Major Lazer mixtape over the last month or so, only getting a real chance to dig into it over the last couple of weeks. It took me a minute to place the above track - or at least the unmixed version - as the song accompanying the TV marketing of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bayonetta-Playstation-3/dp/B001YHX4B0?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Bayonetta</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001YHX4B0" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />, a game which I'm quite taken with if you didn't know. <br />
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For comparison:<br />
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Anyway, Major Lazer's album can be downloaded <a href="http://maddecent.bandcamp.com/album/lazerproof">at this link</a> for free if you're interested in checking it out this weekend. Me, I have Blu Ray copies of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Bad-Weird-Blu-ray/dp/B003NLE5J0?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">The Good, the Bad, the Weird</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003NLE5J0" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />, and <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Realm-Senses-Criterion-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B001PYD0KW?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">In the Realm of the Senses</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B001PYD0KW" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i> to occupy my free time when I'm not getting some writing done.Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-28520672582244766482010-08-17T10:39:00.001-04:002010-08-17T10:41:38.032-04:00Scott Pilgrim vs. Me<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TGqdVgM77aI/AAAAAAAAAT4/w1gB1uLgvvo/s1600/canadianmovie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TGqdVgM77aI/AAAAAAAAAT4/w1gB1uLgvvo/s320/canadianmovie.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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For your pleasure, I've articulated my thoughts about Edgar Wright's latest over on my <a href="http://www.comicsbulletin.com/shot/12818951083530.htm">Shot for Shot</a> column at <a href="http://www.comicsbulletin.com/">Comics Bulletin</a>.By the way, I actually had the chance to interview the comic series writer, Bryan Lee O'Malley a little while back and <a href="http://www.comicsbulletin.com/features/127416121918293.htm">he had some interesting things to say</a> about the books. <br />
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As such things tend to go, it's not my final word on the subject. I took in a second showing on Sunday just to give the movie another shake, and maybe let the richness of the experience take over. Unfortunately, I think I came away with more problems than pluses the second time around:<br />
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<ul><li>The problem of "compression" I noted in the review feels even more present the second time. In a lot of ways it feels like a hurried race to the finish: get as many plot points and fan service from the books in before the final scene. </li>
<li>Brie Larson's Envy Adams just doesn't do it for me. While I think the film is populated with good to excellent performances (Kieran Culkin being the top of the heap) Larson's vamping is cranked up to an unbearable "11." When she reads her lines into the phone in her first scene I was cringing, I couldn't take it. </li>
<li>Am I the only one to notice that ex #4, Roxy Richter never gets named in the film? Or did I miss it at some point? </li>
<li>Speaking of, Mae Whitman has a lot of fun with the Roxy role but at some point it seems like someone told her to drop or scale back the Southern accent for her fight scene.</li>
<li>Occasionally (just once in a while, mind you) I was bugged by some of the incidental game-related sound effects that were unattached to any kind of visual cue. That is to say, occasionally there'd be a brief 8-bit beep or chirp accompanying something like walking or whatever and it caused me to look around for the jerk in the audience with the cell phone.</li>
<li>I would very much like to buy the soundtrack and score, but both are only available (in MP3 form, I mean) via iTunes are exorbitant rates (something like $16 a pop). </li>
<li>Back to Larson, her performance notwithstanding, her stage presence during the Clash at Demonhead concert scene is pretty great, and it helps that she's accompanied by the strongest track in the movie. </li>
</ul>Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-9393756561807634482010-08-15T12:11:00.000-04:002010-08-15T12:11:58.844-04:00Backlash, Thy Name is M. Night Shyamalan<center><object data="http://v.giantrealm.com/saf/918ad0f5e1f8bad8f83006936ee17936872c083e" height="280" id="grp49018970" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://v.giantrealm.com/saf/918ad0f5e1f8bad8f83006936ee17936872c083e" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></param><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><param name="FlashVars" value="oid=grp49018970&embed=1&pid=918ad0f5e1f8bad8f83006936ee17936872c083e&vi=241def82a9079d336f2b9bc84a9fa54a3e8f686e&cu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ebscreview%2Ecom%2F2010%2F07%2Fm%2Dnight%2Dshyamalans%2Ddevil%2Dtrailer%2Dand%2Dpics%2F"></param><embed name="grp49018970" src="http://v.giantrealm.com/saf/918ad0f5e1f8bad8f83006936ee17936872c083e" FlashVars="oid=grp49018970&embed=1&pid=918ad0f5e1f8bad8f83006936ee17936872c083e&vi=241def82a9079d336f2b9bc84a9fa54a3e8f686e&cu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ebscreview%2Ecom%2F2010%2F07%2Fm%2Dnight%2Dshyamalans%2Ddevil%2Dtrailer%2Dand%2Dpics%2F" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="280" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent"></embed></object></center><br />
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...Or at least, that's my impression after observing the audience reactions to the trailer for <i>Devil</i>, the new M. Night Shyamalan-produced thriller directed by <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rec-Manuela-Velasco/dp/B0028DRGDQ?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">[REC]</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0028DRGDQ" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> re-makers John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle. The trailer played before both <i>Inception</i> and <i>Scott Pilgrim</i> and in both cases audiences were kind of rolling with it until Night’s name popped up on the screen and that’s when the laughter started. From there, audience members in one screening started shouting out potential twists for the movie or generally tuning out and chatting with their friends. <br />
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Now, both audiences were college-age crowds in a college town. Still, this is kind of a big deal for the master filmmaker’s cachet at this point and if this isn’t the actual death knell for his reputation it’s at least on life support. And it’s unfortunate, because <i>Devil</i> doesn’t look half-bad in a kind of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Red-Eye-Widescreen-Rachel-McAdams/dp/B000BVM1S2?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Red Eye</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000BVM1S2" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />/<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Joy-Ride-Matthew-Kimbrough/dp/B0002WT4OE?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Joy Ride</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0002WT4OE" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> sort of way. It feels like one of those lean little thrillers that has a couple of good surprises you’ll talk about with your friends after the fact that should be a solid, medium-tier performer when it drops in September.<br />
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But with Shyamalan’s name attached that doesn’t appear to be in the cards anymore. His reputation has become toxic, and the idea of sitting through one of his films has (for me at least) little to no appeal. I just don’t want to deal with his formulaic upending of formula, if you know what I mean. The prospect of yet another self-serious movie where the plot is stifled out of the characters like some kind of horror-movie version of <i>Crash</i> makes me want to run screaming out of the theater. <br />
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And again, this is kind of a crap reaction to have to the movie since for all intents and purposes Shyamalan is simply the producer on the damned thing. Hopefully for the brothers Dowdle, the trailer will be recut before the movie’s release (and in advance of any television spots) to minimize or maybe even omit the Shyamalan connection.Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-64674046330543219122010-08-10T10:30:00.000-04:002010-08-10T10:30:34.915-04:00My Thoughts on Inception and Level Design is on Conducive Chronicle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TGFhGLaN9lI/AAAAAAAAATw/7vFLt8iIjcw/s1600/Inception_still2323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TGFhGLaN9lI/AAAAAAAAATw/7vFLt8iIjcw/s320/Inception_still2323.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Wherein I talk a bit about a little movie you may have heard of and how a certain multibillion dollar industry still doesn't get no respect. You know what to do <a href="http://cchronicle.com/2010/08/the-film-inception-architects-designing-a-game/">if you want to read it</a>.<br />
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Besides being fairly happy with this piece I'm also reminded that I need to check out <i>Inception</i> once more before the local theater takes it off of the prime screens. Say what you will, the movie demands scrutiny. As a critic and a fan of whirling things I think I owe it another chance to get its hooks into me.<br />
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There's a piece on criticism coming out of all of this - I just can't quite articulate it yet to my satisfaction. It'll come to me, I'm sure.Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-26878729827013085602010-08-08T17:46:00.001-04:002010-08-08T17:46:57.283-04:00On Girls Playing With Fire and Frank Castle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TF8eOyQClII/AAAAAAAAATo/WEDZ6aS48xI/s1600/punisher_slavers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TF8eOyQClII/AAAAAAAAATo/WEDZ6aS48xI/s320/punisher_slavers.jpg" /></a></div>Over at Twitch, I've got <a href="http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/08/the-girl-who-played-with-fire-review.php">a review up</a> of the plot-heavy and character-light <i>The Girl Who Played With Fire</i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=030745455X" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />, the second in Stieg Larsson's <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stieg-Larssons-Millennium-Trilogy-Bundle/dp/0307594777?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Milennium</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0307594777" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> series of films. Go over there and read that, if you'd please.<br />
<br />
I wanted to harp on one point that I brought up in my review that's stuck with me since seeing the movie recently and that's the mostly useless, practically forgotten outrage found in the film, specifically with regard to sexual violence committed against women. It's one thing the be a show like <i>Law and Order: SVU</i> whose whole point is shock-outrage-drama, but it's another entirely to be about a bunch of social activists with left-leaning politics whose whole thing should be, you know, fighting the system and representing the poor, abused, and underrepresented.<br />
<br />
Instead, it takes the wrathful violence tact via Noomi Rapace's Lisbeth Salandar, the script contriving to get abusers in her hands for the purposes of righteous vengeance, which, if anything, makes her Frank Castle in Garth Ennis's brilliant <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Punisher-MAX-Vol-5-Slavers/dp/0785118993?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Slavers</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0785118993" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i> arc, but stripped bare of the latter's outsize, mad dimensions. That is to say, he's a monster - one with a need to inflict punishment based on trauma, stripped of his emotions due to a lonely, nomadic existence. The difference between Lisbeth and Frank is that Lisbeth is just getting started while Castle has been at it for decades and the paint's starting to peel.<br />
<br />
The Slavers pits Frank against a gang of Eastern European sex traffickers whose simple, direct, and particularly ruthless brand of sex slavery have created something like a factory system for breaking and controlling girls. Likewise, <i>The Girl Who Played With Fire </i>has Lisbeth tangentially dealing with those involved in sex trafficking (from the demand side) but here's the difference: Ennis's <i>Punisher</i> arc deals with a monster in the world of men while Lisbeth exists largely in a vacuum. Like Castle, she's largely a monster, a would-be torturer and killer, but it almost seems like the story doesn't care.<br />
<br />
Perhaps in the books there's some kind of profound realization that this girl is fucked up - more than just her day-to-day fucked up - but I wouldn't know having not read them. On the screen though it feels like cheap, right-wing thanatos at odds with the left-wing rabble rousing within which the story seems to be set. Lisbeth's acts against her tormentors and the tormentors of others would maybe carry a bit more heft and not have the stink of cheap catharsis if the world she occupied wasn't so broadly written, with a nearly endless parade of male sexual victimizers, womanizers, and assholes. Ennis, by contrast, places his character in more or less the "real" world: we see a social worker who's horrified by Frank's methods even if the results save lives, and a couple of cops trying to play things at the middle, at least one trying to get something out of his involvement with a serial killer of criminals. Ennis uses a finer brush and as a result the picture has more detail. Sure the people Frank kills aren't worth living, but what Frank does to them is typically horrific.<br />
<br />
I never get that with Lisbeth - it's all cool surfaces and tough schtick and it gets really boring really fast. <br />
<br />
<b>Tucker Stone does a <a href="http://www.factualopinion.com/the_factual_opinion/2009/02/panel-madness-the-moment-of-disappointment-comes-laced-in-despair.html">brilliant breakdown</a> of the most powerful and oft-repeated moment from that arc, and I'm not sure I could do it equal justice. </b>Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-34780563429098030312010-08-05T16:03:00.002-04:002010-08-08T17:09:28.612-04:00Devil In the White City and Why I Haven't Reviewed Inception<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TFsZAiAheMI/AAAAAAAAATg/MU6pYxMD7pU/s1600/Devil_in_City.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TFsZAiAheMI/AAAAAAAAATg/MU6pYxMD7pU/s320/Devil_in_City.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
So one of my all-time favorite novels, <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=9dm6ALeAOt0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=devil+in+the+white+city&source=bl&ots=hQ41AoD933&sig=iS0EcNYPtBFsIV6JyS2XSjILuA4&hl=en&ei=BA9bTJyiFoP98AbQvYzcAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false">Devil In the White City</a>, is available via Google Books. For those of you who haven't read it, I'd encourage you to do so.<br />
<br />
Larson's brilliantly-crafted historical novel about the Chicago's World Fair and its unfortunate coincidence with the murders of serial killer/con man H.H. Holmes uses the conceit that nearly every word of dialog in the book is known to have been spoken by the historical figures to which they were attributed via correspondence and interviews. It's such a clean and clear way of maintaining verisimilitude, and it was surely and exhausting process for the writer, who is of course no stranger to historical fiction with his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Isaacs-Storm-Deadliest-Hurricane-History/dp/0375708278?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Isaac's Storm</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0375708278" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> and <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Thunderstruck-Erik-Larson/dp/1400080673?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Thunderstruck</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1400080673" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i> dealing with life and other calamities for different sets of real-life figures of the 20th century. Actually, thinking about his depictions of real-life architects Daniel Burnham and Fredrick Law Olmstead has generated another piece - this one about game design with regards to Christopher Nolan's <i>Inception - </i>it should be live presently on <a href="http://www.cchronicle.com%20/">Conducive Chronicle</a>.<br />
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This sideways approach to the film instead of an actual review has a great deal to do with my lingering uncertainty about it - I just haven't decided if I like the damned thing or not and it bears revisiting sometime in the near future. I had a similar reaction last year to <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inglourious-Basterds-2-Disc-Special-Blu-ray/dp/B002T9H2L0?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Inglourious Basterds</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002T9H2L0" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i> which was finally resolved through a second viewing - like Roger Ebert I couldn't decide if I was seeing one of the best movies of 2009 or one of the worst (I ended up wholeheartedly in the latter camp, all things said and done). At the same time, my feelings about <i>Inception</i> are complicated somewhat not only by the admittedly dense experience of seeing the film but because I've read so much about the damned thing in the weeks preceding and following its release.<br />
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In fact, it's caused me to revisit how I'll be dealing with coverage of movies which I'm anticipating in the future, specifically with regard to reviews and even more pointedly when I plan to write one of my own. While it can be argued that the rich discussions of film before and after their release generate more interesting conversations and appreciation of movies, it also has the unfortunate consequence of coloring the experience beforehand. How much less would I have appreciated <i>Inception</i> if I had not read positive reviews from Devin Farci and Roger Ebert or alternatively, how resistant would I have been to it if I'd read David Edelstein or A.O. Scott's skeptical take-downs? All I can say is those reviews, read (foolishly) prior to seeing the film have had the side effect of making it difficult for me to process the movie critically and independently.Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-58911914118172823772010-07-28T11:35:00.001-04:002010-07-28T11:37:07.723-04:00So There's a Thor: The Video Game Trailer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwkZNErCgFabls_WXcuMZcAv5-iH0OpfGt3O5zS5ktG6TZpmb0O9okT2Wp-QZrhDZXoyZUvNqaGcINf_3_mlw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
It's no surprise that Marvel wants to get a game out to coincide with the release of next year's Kenneth Branagh-directed <i>Thor</i> movie. What is surprising is that the comics publisher opted to go back to Sega for this one given the <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps2/ironman?q=iron%20man">less</a>-<a href="http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps2/ironman?q=iron%20man">than</a>-<a href="http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/ironman2?q=iron%20man">stellar</a> critical response to the <i>Iron Man</i> tie-ins. Unless there was just a high level of faith in the developer to get their act together, I have to imagine that there was some kind of deal inked to produce games tying into all of the <i>Avenger</i> titles for the next few years. <br />
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Spoilers: this teaser trailer has no gameplay footage. But unless they've got some masterwork up their sleeves I foresee a <i>God of War</i>-style hack and slash, probably with some upgrade mechanics tying in and around the main plot of the movie. Maybe a prequel or something using villains from the comics.Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-66125434315667162042010-07-20T16:00:00.000-04:002010-07-20T16:00:33.693-04:00Hope to See You At SDCC This Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TEX_WHreh6I/AAAAAAAAATQ/JZasUjFPryo/s1600/057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TEX_WHreh6I/AAAAAAAAATQ/JZasUjFPryo/s320/057.JPG" /></a></div><br />
The tickets are printed and the bags are (soon to be) packed. I will be attending this year's Nerd Prom on behalf of both <a href="http://www.comicsbulletin.com/">Comics Bulletin</a> and <a href="http://www.twitchfilm.net/">Twitch</a>, as well as pitching a couple of projects to any editors I can pin down for a second.<br />
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If you happen to see me roaming the show floor, please feel free to say hello. Or maybe you want to talk about collaborating on a game or comic project? Maybe you want to just buy me a drink?<br />
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In any event, that's me up there and I'll be there in all of my comics and film press glory.Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-40805230854915485262010-07-16T20:44:00.000-04:002010-07-16T20:44:06.600-04:00The Prognosticators, or How I Wish I Coul Give Up The News<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TECfYNnzkyI/AAAAAAAAATA/XNKrxyKt-rE/s1600/broadcast-news.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TECfYNnzkyI/AAAAAAAAATA/XNKrxyKt-rE/s320/broadcast-news.jpg" /></a></div>So it only took me 23 years, but I finally saw James L. Brooks' romantic comedy/satire/frightening gaze into the tea leaves, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Broadcast-News-William-Hurt/dp/B00000K3CS?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Broadcast News</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B00000K3CS" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /></i> (1987). Having seen this masterful, nearly perfect movie, the only real fault I can find within its 133 minute running time is that it wasn't pessimistic enough about the future of news broadcasting.<br />
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I feel woefully undereducated in Brooks' filmography, having only seen<i> As Good as it Gets</i> (which had to grow on me) and <i>Spanglish</i> (which I have a bit of sympathy for, even as I can't quite bring myself to like the damn movie). <br />
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I'm not interested in reviewing the movie here - it's developed a well-earned reputation on its own, thank you very much. there's just a cool bit of parity here given that <a href="http://twitchfilm.net/interviews/2010/07/nyaff-2010-documentarian---the-tetsuaki-matsue-interview.php">I just interviewed</a> a young documentary filmmaker as part of the New York Asian Film Festival. During my conversation with Tetsuaki Matsue, he talked a bit about objectivity/subjectivity and reporting - the idea that with both documentaries and the news one can't escape from creating a story.<br />
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What I got to thinking about after seeing <i>Broadcast News</i> and reflecting on this interview is that with documentaries, one can be forgiven for entertaining a little, playing to the crowd as you try to lay down some kind of position piece or narrative with actors, stakes, and consequences. Where it get downright diabolical is with news reporting (this is all Media Studies, 101, forgive me, but I'm just riffing on my recent experience) where the need to create a narrative has intruded on the so-called objective attempt to present the facts.<br />
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Events now become binary, with opposing forces and equal weight given to each side of the conversation, which is kind of a false premise when sometimes the other side is actually <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_citizenship_conspiracy_theories">just</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11_Truth_movement">full</a> of it. Worse, reporting has become the "fake tears" scene from Brooks' script writ large: news personalities have so thoroughly injected themselves into the narrative, we're now asked to care about how they feel about the news (and to in turn interpret current events through that prism). <br />
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It was just something that sort of bummed me out after watching the movie - seeing how far we've moved into what was just 25 years ago satire.Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-40892050732065359302010-07-14T10:52:00.000-04:002010-07-14T10:52:26.819-04:00Terribly Happy (2008)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TD3CIjgIywI/AAAAAAAAASo/SYxS4SiP29w/s1600/terribly_happy07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TD3CIjgIywI/AAAAAAAAASo/SYxS4SiP29w/s320/terribly_happy07.jpg" /></a></div><br />
This Dutch crime-thriller ultimately had to be put to the "localization test" after my viewing of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Terribly-Happy-Jakob-Cedergren/dp/B003IM9JWM?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">just-released R1 DVD</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003IM9JWM" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />. That test involves looking at a foreign-language film and evaluating if the cache of the production and the quality of the film come from the film itself or if the "foreign-ness" of the thing is really what's being sold. Simply put: if <i>Terribly Happy</i> were in English, would it be any good?<br />
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Well, it's not any good in Dutch, which makes the <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/terribly_happy/">overwhelmingly positive critical respons</a>e to it so confounding to me. I'm typically resistant to allowing the opinions sway my own when it comes to assessing a film, but its many fans and defenders are part of why I sought this movie out. And after an hour of - well, not suffering, but working my way through this film, I admit to a certain level of exasperation with anyone who's seen this and thought it rose anywhere above mediocrity.<br />
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The problems started for me from the beginning when I couldn't help shaking the feeling that I was watching a foreign-language riff on <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Fuzz-Ultimate-Blu-ray-Broadbent/dp/B002HR1W1K?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Hot Fuzz</a></i><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B002HR1W1K" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> with a muted color palette. Indeed, <i>Terribly Happy</i>'s Robert is transplanted from Copenhagen to a small, marshland town after some kind of nervous crisis puts him on the outs with his superiors back in the big city. The mud and dirt-covered hamlet is in need of a new marshal - not because they want anyone actually dispensing law and order, but it's just their way. Robert comes to find that the people of the town have a lot of ways: ways of hanging their clothes, ways of dealing with shoplifting children, ways of getting rid of unwanted bodies.<br />
<br />
In this, the script by director Henrik Ruben Genz and Dunja Gry Jensen along with the stellar cinematography by Jorgen Johanssen are actually most successful, establishing a grim, slightly paranoid tone that would have better served a more well-developed conflict than the one provided here. That conflict is between Robert and local bully, Jorgen. Jorgen is broad, squat, and calmly mean, and may or may not be beating his disturbed wife, Ingelise. While this premise is fraught with tension I had trouble actually buying into it because of several irrational or plainly stupid actions on Robert's part. I have to confess to looking at the time remaining and checking out a little bit in the second half after the second or third boneheaded decision by the lead that just dug him deeper and deeper into the hole in which he found himself. I have patience for this kind of character when it's clear that there's an element of thrill-seeking as with Jeffrey from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Velvet-Special-Isabella-Rossellini/dp/B000063JDE?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Blue Velvet</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000063JDE" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /> or part of a slow-burn madness as with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Next-Door/dp/B000GTLQUI?ie=UTF8&tag=moninyouvei-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Next Door'</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=moninyouvei-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000GTLQUI" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />s (<i>Naboer</i>, 2005) John, but the script doesn't really earn Robert's behavior or develop it in any convincing way.<br />
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There was another issue that undermined the whole thing and that was the sexual tension between Robert and Ingelise - or lack thereof. The actress Lene Maria Christensen throws herself into the role and crashes around in it with abandon. While her dedication to the performance is admirable, it also made me think that, as Robert, I would definitely try to keep my distance from this lunatic woman and her obvious mental problems. After a bit it became clear his character had nothing in the way of survival instincts and as a viewer I didn't want to be around him and his ridiculously self-destructive behavior.<br />
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Again, I have to wonder if the goodwill directed at the film was in part a result of it being a well-shot foreign film. I don't think other writers were bamboozled or anything like that, but I suspect that throwing an accent on the events of the film may have made it somewhat more appealing.Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-55241238328127766262010-07-10T10:21:00.000-04:002010-07-10T10:21:11.959-04:00Pagina Perdida?<center><object height="285" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mdHwGzJ8faI&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=pt_BR&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mdHwGzJ8faI&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=pt_BR&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="400" height="285"></embed></object></center><br />
<br />
I'm not really sure what to make of this trailer for <a href="http://www.paginaperdida.com/"><i>Pagina Perdida</i></a> which found itself in my inbox this morning. Here's the copy from production company Sanglat Films: <br />
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<i>Surrounded by an intriguing scenario and inhabited by strange characters, "Lost Page” ("Página Perdida") is an abstract film, the result of a powerfull visual dimension created by Lucas Moreira added to the experimental electro-acoustic music of Marcelo Armani.<br />
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Produced by Sanglant Films and Department of Culture of São Leopoldo.</i>Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-4247192794634394242010-07-09T01:00:00.001-04:002010-08-08T17:10:07.901-04:00New York Asian Film Fest Roudup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TDas1MYATPI/AAAAAAAAASg/sKOrMpPINoU/s1600/kim5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TDas1MYATPI/AAAAAAAAASg/sKOrMpPINoU/s320/kim5.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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This year I had the privilege of reviewing a few titles for the <a href="http://www.subwaycinema.com/">New York Asian Film Festival</a> for <a href="http://www.twitchfilm.net/">Twitch</a>, where I'm a regular contributor. <br />
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Below you can find links to my coverage of the fest:<br />
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<a href="http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/07/nyaff-2010-castaway-on-the-moon.php">Review: Castaway On the Moon </a><br />
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<a href="http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/07/nyaff-2010-gallants-another-take.php">Review: Gallants</a><br />
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<a href="http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/06/nyaff-2010-little-big-soldier-review.php">Review: Little Big Soldier</a><br />
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<a href="http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/06/nyaff-2010-boys-on-the-run.php">Review: Boys on the Run</a><br />
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<a href="http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/06/nyaff-2010-bodyguards-and-assassins.php">Review: Bodyguards and Assassins</a><br />
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<a href="http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/07/nyaff-2010-power-kids-aka-force-of-five-review.php">Review: Power Kids (aka Force of Five)</a><br />
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<a href="http://twitchfilm.net/interviews/2010/07/nyaff-2010-action-actress---the-asami-interview.php">Interview: Adult Film and Action Actress Asami</a>Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7009236924970589696.post-47848707908331240172010-07-06T13:13:00.000-04:002010-07-06T13:13:23.804-04:00Go Over to MangaLife If You Want a Free DVD...... if you live in the UK, that is.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TDNkDM-NE8I/AAAAAAAAASY/uech4Qld6Ag/s1600/kajidvd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Kx_yy2qJhyA/TDNkDM-NE8I/AAAAAAAAASY/uech4Qld6Ag/s320/kajidvd.jpg" /></a></div><br />
We're running a contest in conjunction with distributor 4Digital Media to give away a free copy of <i>Kaji: The Ultimate Gambler</i> <a href="http://www.mangalife.com/news/UKREADERCONTESTWinemKajiTheUltimateGambleremonDVD.htm">right here</a>. So what are you waiting for? Get over there and win it ! Charles Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03022978150690527226noreply@blogger.com0